1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to vertical probe devices and more particularly, to an assembling method and a maintaining method for a vertical probe device, and the vertical probe device for performing the aforesaid methods.
2. Description of the Related Art
Taiwan Patent No. 1299085, which corresponds to U.S. Pat. No. 7,400,156, disclosed a vertical probe device which comprises a probe seat composed of upper and lower dies or upper, middle and lower dies, a positioning film disposed between the upper and lower dies, and a plurality of probe needles. Each probe needle has a head penetrating through the upper die and the positioning film, a tail penetrating through the lower die, and a curved body located in an accommodating space defined between the upper and lower dies. When contacting contacts of devices under test (hereinafter referred to “DUTs”) with different heights, the tails of the probe needles are movable vertically to adjust heights of needle-points thereof to the heights of the contacts, respectively. The positioning film is adapted for positioning the heads of the probe needles before the upper die is installed, so that the probe needles will not oblique and therefore the upper die will be installed positively and smoothly.
In a conventional arrangement, the positioning film is suspended in the above-mentioned accommodating space. However, in this way, if the upper die needs to be removed temporarily for replacement of the probe needles, the positioning film is liable to be lifted and flipped over while the upper die is removed. Meanwhile, the probe needles might be pulled up along with the positioning film that is flipped over. In this case, reinstalling the pulled-up probe needles is time-consuming; besides, the probe needles might be damaged when being pulled up.
In another conventional arrangement, the positioning film is fastened on a top surface of the lower die, such that the positioning film is prevented from being lifted and flipped over. However, in this way, the positioning film is unmovable when the probe needles receive external force, resulting in that the probe needles may bear relatively greater stress and thereby being easily damaged.
In the vertical probe device disclosed in the aforesaid Taiwan Patent No. 1299085, the positioning film is placed on the lower die and movable in a small distance between the upper and lower dies. Besides, the positioning film can be fastened on the lower die by bolts, if necessary. Therefore, while the upper die is removed, the positioning film can be fastened on the lower die and thereby prevented from being lifted and flipped over. In another aspect, the top surface of the upper die of the probe device will be connected with a circuit board or a space transformer, which might be provided at the bottom surface thereof with electronic components, and therefore the electronic components will occupy some space around the top of the probe device. In other words, the probe device might need to be provided at the top thereof with some reserved areas for accommodating electronic components. However, the reserved areas usually overlap the areas for fastening the positioning film to the lower die. Therefore, the vertical probe device disclosed in the aforesaid patent is not applicable in the situation that the top thereof should accommodate electronic components.
In addition, Taiwan Patent Publication No. 201120452, which corresponds to US Publication No. 2011/0128028, disclosed a maintenance device which is adapted to be installed in a probe device for fastening the positioning film of the probe device, thereby preventing the positioning film from being lifted and flipped over. However, although the maintenance device has the effect of fastening the positioning film, it is composed of so many elements as to be complicated in construction and time-consuming in installation.